A malfunction on Expedition Everest that sends you FLYING over the side of the coaster. The dolls on “it’s a small world” suddenly springing to life and climbing into your boat. Cracking aquarium tanks at the Seas with Nemo and Friends. All of these are very real fears people have about Disney, even though they may be fully aware that the fears are totally IRRATIONAL!

We’ve already shared the 15 most irrational Disney fears of the DFB team (there are some golden ones in there!), but we just had to open it up to you all — our lovely DFB readers — to see what YOUR irrational fears are. So, we reached out via Facebook and got some pretty scary, hilarious, and unique answers! Let’s dive in so you can see how many of these irrational fears you share (or have now adopted!).

DISCLAIMER

Before we dive into the irrational fears, we gotta give a tiny disclaimer that these are just the irrational fears shared by our DFB readers. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are true fears you should have or things that could actually happen. But hey, the workings of the mind are sometimes a mystery, right?

Let’s get into the fears!

Wild Animals

Wild animals was one that was brought up a lot in different variations. Some were scared of running into the wild snakes that have “slithered” their way into Disney World (No need for a park pass or a ticket? We can’t blame them for slithering in to say “hello” to Mickey for FREE! ). To be fair, snakes can appear in Disney World, but Cast Members typically do a good job of blocking off the area and handling the situation.

Another had a very specific fear — that a snake would fall out of a tree on them! Well, yeah, we’d be pretty terrified if that happened!

Another said that they were camping at Fort Wilderness Campgrounds and worried that an alligator would just roam around the property like the squirrels. That would have definitely been a sight! Alligators have appeared on property. But again Disney takes steps to handle the alligator population in the area and there tends to be signage for areas that could house alligators.

Some shared an irrational fear of the Kilimanjaro Safaris, specifically that wild animals from the safari or Animal Kingdom in general would escape will escape! Again, Disney keeps things under strict control BUT did you know that they are prepared in case this were to happen?

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is actually the only park where the doors leading to the bathrooms have locks on them. Why? Because if an animal were to escape, guests could go into a bathroom and lock the door for safety until things are taken care of. So the fear might be irrational, but Disney is prepared were it to come true! This is likely a safety feature at your local zoo too!

Click here to see more creepy stories from Animal Kingdom!

The Small World DOLLS and Other Ride Characters

For others, the irrational fears were about things you’ll see in Disney’s rides — specifically characters and animatronics!

A few mentioned that they’re afraid of (what one fan called) the “big bad Dino” at the end of DINOSAUR! One fan even shared the conversation they have in their head about it — “It’s a big rubber animatronic puppet, you dork! Look at it!” –“meanwhile a more primal part of me has become a petulant 3 year old, ‘NO! NO! NO!’”

Seems there’s a lot going on there. We hope you and the Dino can sit down for a little bit of a chat soon and iron things out.

Many of the irrational fears guests confessed to included one very specific ride…“it’s a small world.” While this might be a kid-friendly, relaxing ride to you, it is PURE TERROR for others.

Some shared that they fear getting stuck on the ride and the music never stops, or that the “creepy dolls are gonna start chasing” them. Irrational? Yes. Terrifying? Absolutely!

Others were also afraid of animatronics, but from a different attraction. One specific reader shared that they have an irrational fear that the Country Bears will come to life and eat them. Intense.

Click here for our list of 13 of the CREEPIEST things in the Disney parks!

Roller Coaster and Attraction Woes

A number of readers also shared some irrational (and, again, terrifying) fears having to do with roller coasters or other big, popular rides.

One of the ones that was often repeated was the fear that they’d be “decapitated” by the Space Mountain tracks or otherwise hit their hand, arm, etc. on the Space Mountain tracks! We get it — those tracks can look awfully close when you’re racing past them in the dark. But, we think that a large reason why this fear might be common is due to false rumors that someone WAS decapitated on the ride. (Again, false rumors — not true!)

Others were more on the “getting stuck” train in terms of fears. People shared that they were afraid of getting stuck in the same scene of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress (and having to hear the same soundtrack over and over again), getting stuck on dark rides (like The Haunted Mansion), or getting stuck in the upside down part of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Getting stuck itself is probably not a truly irrational fear, though getting stuck for something like 10 hours might be. Disney rides do get stuck from time to time, and sometimes even have to be evacuated. In those instances, it’s important to stay calm and listen to the directions of the Cast Members to ensure your safety.

Other attraction fears we saw? Falling out of your seat on Soarin’, plummeting down (without the appropriate controls) on Tower of Terror, a roller coaster simply falling off of its own track, and (winning a gold star for uniqueness) being hit by lightning on a ride before they have to shut it down. WOWZA.

Florida did regain its title as the “lightning capital of the U.S.” not too long ago, so maybe those fears do have a basis!

Click here to learn about the time that Rise of the Resistance was down, potentially due to a lightning strike

Getting Sick

Another one that kept popping up was a fear of getting sick and missing out on everything they planned. That might seem irrational to you if you’re an extremely healthy person who has never been sick in the parks before. But, we’d argue that this is actually a perfectly rational fear.

Kids and adults can totally get sick in Disney World and it can impact your trips tremendously. The flu, a stomach bug, and more could all cause your trip to go “off the rails.” The important thing there is to treat this actually as a rational fear and be prepared. Come up with a backup plan and know where to ask for help if you or a little one gets sick.

Click here to see what can happen when a family gets sick in Disney World and how to prepare!

Plans Gone Wrong!

Speaking of being prepared, many of the responses had to do with irrational fears related to trip prep. One shared that their fear is that all of their reservations will disappear and they’ll have to “piece everything back together and replan the whole trip at a moments notice.”

Another shared that their fear is that they would book their flight or hotel for the wrong dates (hey, it can happen!).

One Disney fan said that they’ve had a dream where they arrived at Disney World only to find they only had…1 change of clothes! OH NO. They also dreamed that they were in the wrong park on the wrong day in the wrong outfit.

The only having 1 change of clothes might be the most irrational thing of that bunch, but seriously folks, these are some rational irrational fears! It’s important to take screenshots of all of your reservations so you have proof of them in case the app crashes, and using a packing list can make sure that you bring everything you need!

Other Irrational Fears

Other irrational fears included getting to the end of the trip only to just then realize you’ve forgotten to ride a favorite attraction or visit an entire park…

…feeling the need to pee suddenly when on the Skyliner, on a ride, etc. (which actually isn’t that irrational — it’s best to use those bathrooms BEFORE you know you’ll be in an area without access to one)…

…entering the line for Mission: SPACE’s green side and somehow magically ending up on the orange side…

…getting eaten by a pretzel (this one was too good not to include)…

…and Disney World running out of favorite items like DOLE Whip or special drinks and snacks (not all that irrational as supply chain issues and supplier changes can cause things to be temporarily unavailable!).

Click here to see how supply chain issues could impact your next Disney World trip

And that’s our list of some irrational fears our fans shared with us. Some of these actually aren’t all that irrational, but others (like being eaten by the Country Bears or a pretzel?!) certainly lean toward the more irrational side of things!

What irrational (or maybe even mostly irrational but somewhat rational) Disney fear do you have? Tell us in the comments! And stay tuned for more Disney news!

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What irrational (or maybe even mostly irrational but somewhat rational) Disney fear do you have? Tell us in the comments!

The post Guests Confess Their IRRATIONAL Disney Fears! first appeared on the disney food blog.